Moon Dragon
by criminalmindslover22
Summary: This is a story me and my cousin are co writing about dragons because we both think they are interesting and we get bored easily.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Kara

_It's happening, _I thought, _it's finally happening._ Today, my first flight feathers had begun peeking out from under my fluffy down. I am finally fledging, after three years of staying on the ground in my parents cave.

I view the nice iridescent indigo, black, and dark purple primary on the tip of my right wing as it buds out. Tuffs of plumage drift to the ground as I flap my wings. Another feather is exposed; this time, a secondary on my left wing. I shake out my wings, causing it to snow little feathers that are only used to stay warm.

The little gray feathers swirl in the light of the full moon. I smile as they swirl around in the breeze, blowing off the flat half-plateau. Ah, the plateau. Through some event in history, half way up the plateau, a large section had fallen away. It left a huge exposed air bubble that once was in the heart of the plateau: my home. Plus, there are many boulders alongside the cliffs edge, with verdant trees and things growing from them.

Well, besides knowing that the plateau had broken centuries and centuries ago, that's about all I know about this place, expect that my father's snoring is probably going to cause another landslide.

I go inside to get my needed five or six hours of sleep. Lying in my usual spot by the cave entrance, I watch the stars twinkle and shine. Sleep is knocking at my door when I hear the soft _whuff whuff_ of a dragon flying.

I peek out of my cave and see none other than Prince Shakra flying around my plateau. His long banking turn leads him to the backside of the plateau, north and into the Alps. I see his figure glide back around, closer and closer with every time he rounds my home.

He gets close enough that I can see him carrying a bundle of purple feathers and a torch, and that he is not alone. A great gray owl flies in his wake, a single purple feather from his tail feathers, marking him as Shakra's companion.

They get extremely close to the rocky boulders down the bluff of the plateau. I creep from my cave and watch my prince and his owl pick through some pebbles before driving a purple feather into the ground. They leap from rock to rock, tree to tree, examining the ground and occasionally poking a feather somewhere in the ground.

His owl drifts around above him, cocking his head. He looks straight to me and hoots. I duck down lower, almost out of sight. Shakra looks in my general direction, scanning the cliffs edge for someone, before going back to work. I breathe a heavy sigh of relief, causing the owl to hoot at me again. Shakra ignores him.

The prince continues to hunt for places to put out feathers, seeming to pick them out at random. He goes into the bushier part of the rocky cliff side where the light of the moon can't get through. I crawl down the boulders like a ninja, making no noise. Well, I guess I make some because the owl looks to me and hoots some more.

I follow the prince and his noisy owl into the forest-like section. I hear him grumble something about bad lighting. He holds up the torch and it catches fire. I gasp at the use of forbidden magic. He looks up suddenly, listening. I duck behind a boulder just as his head turns my way. I wait until I hear him move on with his magically lit torch before scampering back up to the flat shale in front of my cave.

I watch his torch move throughout the forest, a dim light barely peeking though the evergreen branches. After a while without seeing the torch, the prince flies up from the treetops. My heart pounds and I dart quickly back to my cave, but not quick enough; his owl sees me and hoots a screeching noise.

I hide behind the cave wall, hearing Shakra's unique wing beats. He's part of the royal Draco family, the last of the featherless dragons. His leathery wings are easy to hear as they approach me. Heart pounding, and telling myself to calm down, I wonder what the prince will do if he finds out I saw him using forbidden magic.

Ever since the kingdom of Europe was created, along with the other regions of the world getting leaders, magic has been forbidden. Due to the fact that most books, if not all, mentioned magic, reading and owning books had been forbidden too. The ancient monarchy had done that, before the monarchy was overthrown and a king took the throne.

Still, the reign of the Draco family enforced the banning just as much, if not more, than the monarchy. Punishment for using magic is severe, a lashing to the face. It left a dragon marked, and no one cared if the scarred dragons lived or died.

And now, the prince who had done what his parents and ancestors forbid is flying close to the entrance of my cave.

I almost scream as his head darts into the cave, his long horns and neck trills glimmering in the moonlight as if they were the source of the light. He glances around. I can see his slit pupils expanding as they adjust to the darker lighting.

They land on my figure as I crouch down, still as stone.

"Have you been spying on me?" his deep voice asks. My eyes widen in fear. _He knows!_ I think, panicked.

"N-no," I stutter, his eyes squint, reducing to slits of gold with a black pupil inside.

"I'm so sure you're telling the truth," he mutters sarcastically. My father snorts a loud snoring noise. "Oh, goody, your parents are home. Come outside." I move my frozen paws forward, following his strong scaly figure outside. "Now, who are you?" he asks.

"Kara, my prince," I say meekly. He watches me closely.

"Alright, Kara. Did you see anything odd tonight?"

"No, my prince," I murmur. His eyes seem to glow as his patience begins to run out.

"I don't believe you, young Kara. I think we both know what you saw." He takes a step toward me, and I take two steps back.

"I won't tell anyone. I promise, my prince," I vow. He barks a laugh.

"Sure you won't," he says dryly. "Why on earth would you tell someone the prince of Europe used magic? Oh, right, because magic is forbidden." He takes another step toward me, and I try to walk back. However, the cave wall is behind me. He squints at me, his eyes scanning over my shabby wings. "How well can you fly?" he asks.

"Not at all," I say hesitantly. "I'm fledging now." Adrenaline begins to pump through me like fire through my veins as he takes another step forward.

"Very well then. I want you to do me a big favor, and go and jump off that cliff," he says, pointing to the eastern side of the cliff. All the boulders lie of the southern side, so the western and eastern sides were dead drops. If I jump off, I won't live to tell about it.

"But I'll die," I speak my mind quietly.

"No, you won't," he assures me slyly.

"Yes, I will, my prince," I plead, "Don't make me. I can't fly and will die."

He sighs in exasperation. "Fine, we'll do this the hard way, I guess." Suddenly, the ground beneath me grows hot, making a thermal. My down flies up around me.

"What—" I start to ask when he interrupts me.

"Alright. Try to fly." I blink in confusion.

"But I—" I try to say.

"Do it," he advises. "There is no other way, or I would be doing that instead of what I'm about to do." I squirm nervously. "Come on," he encouraged, "don't you trust your prince, your future king?" I pause for a moment, and then nod. "Then for the love of the stars, fly."

I flap my wings, causing more and more fluffy feathers to leave and exposing more flight feathers. "See? I told you I can't fly." He sighs again.

"That's because you're not doing it right. Cup your wings, roll your shoulders. Holy crow, the mentors these days. They don't even teach fledgling to fly."

"Hey!" I growl. "My mentor is a great teacher!"

"Then _fly," _he taunts. I flap harder, rolling my shoulders and gaining some lift. He sighs. "I guess I'll bring in a current, too," he mutters as a wind picks me up from the ground. I gasp, flying somehow with only a few flight feathers on my wings, flight feathers that haven't even finished coming in. "Alright, Kara, now just fly along with where the currents push you."

"You're not going to take me off a cliff, are you?" I ask.

"Yes," he says. I tuck my wings in, hitting the ground. "But I'm not going to drop you. Come on, fly, we have a place to get to before too long." I slowly begin moving my wings.

"Where are we going?" I ask, letting the hot winds push me off the cliff and away from home. He flies beside me, a few purple feathers and the unlit torch in his claws.

"A little place I discovered one night when I ran away."

I look to him, surprised. "You ran away?" I ask, dumfounded at the young prince's lack of loyalty.

"Just for one night. No one even noticed I was gone," he adds gruffly. "So I just started coming out to this spot sometimes, taking little breaks from life." He seems to realize he's saying more than necessary and flaps hard, gaining some height above me.

I watch our shadows shimmer across the ground, moving over trees and bushes like black liquid. The plateau I call home is far in the distance as we fly southeast, and soon we leave the grassy landscape behind for a more forest-like area. We fly for quite some time, passing over boulders shaped like mountains; they are no higher than the average one story building, but they are ruggedly pointed a the top.

I follow him farther into the area, my down being taken away by the wind. I peer at my feathers, losing my aerodynamic form. There are several primaries on each wings, and a few secondary feathers too. My coverts haven't even budded yet, making the soaring we are doing difficult and putting extra strain on my new primaries.

A large craggy rock comes into view, with several trees managing to grow on it. It's on the southeast side of the meadow that quickly moves into my line of sight. Inside the meadow, a small circle of rocks is in front of the craggy rock. The western meadow is ruled by a crackling fire.

He banks a turn and lands near the fire, while I am lucky to crash land without getting singed. I peer into the fire for a moment. Bad move. My eyes are blinded for a while, and Shakra wanders off, leaving me alone.

"And who is this?" a snarly female voice demands.

"Kara," Shakra answers in his deep voice.

"Whoa, guys!" another female voice shouts in a wild tone. "Check out the fledgling!" I blink hard, finally able to focus on what's around me. A red and orange dragon walks up to me. I think it's the female that just shouted. "Hey!" she greets happily as a male blue dragon with small sharp horns and a baby blue and golden female with slender long horns gawk at me. The fire-colored dragon watches me. "Who are you?"

"Kara," I say hesitantly. The slender horned female approaches me.

"Hello, Kara," the baby blue and golden dragon greets. "I'm Air. This is Fire," she says, pointing to the red and orange dragon, "and that over there is Water," she tells me, pointing to the blue dragon with short pointy horns. I stare at them, the odd one out in this strange group. "Of course, those aren't our real names. We just go by them here."

I look to Shakra and see the other dragon he's talking to, and almost swallow my tongue. "Holy crow!" I yelp, looking at her. "She's…featherless! Is she Shakra's sister or something?" I rake my mind, trying to remember if anyone has ever mentioned a princess.

"Nope," Water says, walking to us. "She's the scaled dragon, the secret one. You know, of the prophecies. That what we are you know, the magic users—_ouch!" _ He hisses as Fire kicked him.

"Water!" she screeches. "Shut _up!_" He blinks at her.

"Fine," he snaps. "I was just trying to help."

"Well, help by tying your jaws shut." She turns back to me. "Excuse him, if you can." I nod.

"Shakra?" Air asks, "What is this about, anyways?"

Shakra looms over to me, his featherless friend following. She glares at me while Shakra talks. "Kara saw me use magic." Fires eyes widen in disbelief. "I brought her here so we could explain."

"Which I disagree with," the featherless female hisses. Shakra turns to her.

"Chira, please," he says, trying to sway her opinion. "If she leaves and tells someone about me doing magic, it will be no worse than if she leaves and tells everyone about me doing magic and the legends. This way, we might convince her not to tell at all."

The featherless female known as Chira sighs, saying, "Fine. Just be wary of what she might take the wrong way." Shakra nods solemnly.

"Kara," he says, "you saw me doing magic, yes?" he asks. I nod. "What kind of magic?"

"Fire magic," I whisper. "You lit a torch." He pauses for a minute, his eyes searching mine.

"What is your opinion on magic?" he asks. I answer the way I always have when someone asks me that, the safe way.

"It's forbidden." He sighs, shaking his head.

"Okay, that is established. What is your _opinion_ on magic? Is it good or bad?"

"Um," I say, looking around. "I think it depends on how you use it?"

"Oh, really?" he asks. "So, when I lit that torch, I wasn't doing anything wrong?"

"You defied the law and your parents and ancestors." He rolls his eyes, or tried too. The bright fire makes his pupils contract, so rolling his eyes just looks like he looked forward then backward. Still, I got the point.

"But did I hurt anyone?"

"No."

"Did it cause any harm?"

"It might have if you accidently caught a tree on fire."

"I could have used magic to douse the fire. Then I would be doing something good, wouldn't I?" His questions make my head swim.

"Look," I say, "all I know is that you can get your face clawed if you do magic, so I stay away from it. Whatever you do is your business."

"Kara," Fire says, "magic isn't bad. Just deeply feared and misunderstood. Dragons recoiled from it after what the Evil One and the Evil Child did, and it was the wrong thing to do."

"What did who and who do?" I ask.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Legends

"The Evil One? The Evil Child? You mean, you've never heard the legends?" I shake my head. She sighs. "Well, Shakra, there is our problem. She had no clue why magic is banned."

Everyone looks to him. He stands tall. "Well, tell her," Chira says, "and then send her home."

"Alright, Kara," he huffs, "magic was used extensively back in the time of Mikklo." He pauses. "Do you know who Mikklo is?" I nod.

"She's the white dragon that helped keep the world safe." I say, my voice loosing its meek tone. "Her and her group, that is."

"Good, good. There was only Mikklo at first. Then she met Sycavry, and went around with him as friends until they discovered the prophecies. Not the same ones about us, but ones about her. They told of a time of great evil that was fast approaching, and that she was to seek out four eggs, one for each element."

"I thought they were all related and born at the same time," I say. He laughs.

"Yes, yes, the crazy mixed up version. No, Kara, no mated pairs were related, nor were they all born at once. They all found one mate in the group, their soul mate, and it was perfectly fine because only Cynder and Zoreal were related."

"Oh," I mutter, having no clue who Zoreal is, and only vaguely remembering that Cynder was a good dragon.

"Anyways, on Mikklo's journey to find the eggs, she encountered Cynder. Cynder was a dark, bad dragon who pillaged and hurt dragons. Mikklo raced Cynder to get to the first egg, Sifirious, a young dragon who had abilities to control air like no other. Cynder almost got to the egg before Mikklo, but luckily she didn't.

"Cynder fought Mikklo multiple times as Cynder tried to get the golden egg of Sifirious before he hatched and took a liking to Mikklo. Mikklo and Sycavry barely managed to keep her at bay until the golden dragon hatched. Knowing it would take a year for him to fledge, because that's all it took when dragons had magic _and_ blood in their veins, she hunted Cynder until she found the lair."

"The lair?" I ask.

"The lair in the Rocky Mountains, in America. She found Cynder there, and was prepared to fight to the death."

"But I thought Cynder was on Mikklo's side," I finally insist.

"Yes. When Mikklo entered the lair, she found out that Cynder had once been a child in a decent family, but had been stolen when the dragon who became known as the Evil One murdered her parents."

"Oh, how sad," I mutter. I couldn't image what I would do if someone killed my parents.

"Indeed. But the good news is that Cynder put down her vile plots and took up arms beside Mikklo. They returned back home to the egg and Sycavry. With Mikklo's hands full of the egg that was soon to hatch, Sycavry spent a lot of time with Cynder. They became mates, but had no children, not with the time of great evil coming and more eggs to find.

"So they all set out, finding the next egg, the water egg, deep in the sea. By then, Sifirious had hatched and was close to flying. He took the egg under his wing and watched over it at Mikklo's home of North America. Once the egg hatched, the water dragon was named Aquarius. She flew a few weeks later, for she was scaled like I am.

"The band of four dragons continued on their quest to find the eggs, but was soon slowed down when they passed over a town on fire. They swooped in, Sifirious choking it with lack of oxygen and Aquarius tackling it with water. Sycavry and Mikklo went into the fire and rescued all they could, taking them out of the flames. Many lives were lost, and those alive had to move.

"Mikklo discovered the Evil One had arrived. Mikklo hurried around, until one day encountering Jumper, a griffin who led them to the fire egg. Jumper could travel time, and brought a scroll from many years ago. It told Mikklo where to find the last egg. She told Jumper goodbye, and watched Jumper leave to travel years back.

"Once the fire egg hatched, the young scaled dragon was named Fergirious. But the Evil One wanted him in particular. He was kidnapped. The Evil One harvested his immense power to control the fire before letting him go, and used her powerful abilities to rally forces. Fegirious was lucky and made it safely back to Mikklo somehow. Mikklo and Sifirious, who had shown the greatest magic abilities of them all, split. Mikklo took Fergirious and Cynder, while the golden dragon flew off with Sycavry and Aquarius.

"They each went on their missions. Mikklo and her group found the last egg foretold of, the earth egg, and raced back to her home, where she met Sifirious, who had gathered a large amount of raptors and dragons willing to fight. They told the raptors to stay and guard the unborn earth egg, and flew off.

"Mikklo and her group flew long and hard, trying to find out more about the Evil One. They did find her, and they found her with a mate. The mate had a child already, from a previous female. The child's name was Zoreal."

I gasp. "But then…"

"That's right. The Evil One's secret mate, Kareal, killed his first mate and almost his daughter, sparing his son. Mikklo's group fought Kareal as the Evil One made her escape with her egg."

"Her egg?" I ask.

"The to-be Evil Child, who was cursed by her mother. The Evil One had cursed the egg so it would not hatch until she wanted it to, and would die if she wanted it to incase it fell into Mikklo's hands.

"Zoreal helped fight his own father. They slay him, and saddened deeply by the dragon's death, then went back to Mikklo's home…or at least what remained of it."

"You see," Fire says, taking over the story telling, "The Evil One knew of Mikklo's home. By the time Mikklo got home, everything was ablaze."

"The Evil One had set everything one fire," Shakra tells, "left her weakest forces there to fight, and had stolen the earth egg. The raptors and dragons took care of her weak forces, but not before the Evil One had gotten away.

"Fergirious demanded going after the egg, but Mikklo insist they rebuild her home and help the wounded first. By then, though, Aquarius and Sifirous had found they were mates, and knew the pain Fergirous must feel for his loss of his soul mate. They offered to go hunt for the egg with him, and they did.

"So, the three young foolish dragons set out during the night while Mikklo, Sycavry, and their mates rebuilt the home and healed the wounded. The three young dragons managed to find the Evil One. She was channeling the earth eggs powers to control the earth into her egg when they pounced. The Evil One, much stronger and more powerful, captured them all. She poured their powers into the egg.

"Mikklo was quick to find them missing after the wounded were cared for and safe in her home. Despite her not sleeping for several days to help out, she flew off with Sycavry, Cynder, and Zoreal left behind, helping care for the poor dragons with gashes and broken bones.

"A full week went by, and Mikklo did not return."

"She had been captured too, my prince?" I guess. Shakra nods. "I know the rest now. The Evil one poured Mikklo's energy into the egg, overloading it. The shell exploded, releasing the most powerful dragon hatchling. But she couldn't do any regular magic, or so I've heard."

"That's right," Shakra says. "Do you know what she could do?" I shake my head. "Manifest whatever she pleased, from unlimited forces, to all the elements, to new organs for herself. She was, in a sense, immortal because she created new body parts when old ones began fail."

"So she might still be alive?" I gasp out.

"Yes," Chira says. "She is alive somewhere, probably in America." My eyes widen. "And we doubt she follows the 'no magic' rule."

"But then, we need magic, don't we my prince?" I ask, "To fight back?"

"Perhaps. No one has seen her for over seven hundred years. People assume she's gone. The king assures us his army is strong enough to take out one little childish dragon, even if she is in existence."

"But…my prince, you just said she could summon armies for herself."

Shakra sighs. "Maybe the king's enormous ego can keep us safe." Fire laughs.

"Well," Fire says, "that's why we need magic. Some things say it will return, secretly, right before she attacks. Some other legends claim she's dead, and still others say she's good now. But the most haunting one claims she is to attack once magic is thoroughly feared. Which is about now." My eyes widen in fear.

"Holy crow," I mutter. Everyone nods in agreement. I look down, thinking about the new information, and watch a small beetle fight to get over a piece of grass.

"So you see, that's all we are trying to do," Shakra says. "We want to uproot magic and plant it back in our lives."

"Okay," I give in. "You've got me. I won't tell." He nods.

"Then it's time to take you home." He says. "Fire? Air? Will you?"

"Sure," Fire says.

"Why not?" Air agrees. They summon a huge hot thermal for us three to ride on, sweeping me off my feet. "Come on, Kara. Let's get you home."

"Oh, Kara?" Shakra says as we drift away. "My name is Shakra, not 'my prince'." We are too high to respond as his fading voice finishes his sentence.

We all ride on the thermal and wind currents as the fluffy warm air holds us high.

"So, you really won't tell?" Fire asks, sounding like a hatchling that let a silly secret out of the bag instead of a fully fledged dragon that does magic.

"Yeah. If anything, I would try to do some myself. You know, so I can understand it more so I'm not so skittish when someone so much as mentions it." Fire scowls.

"I'm not so sure…" her voice trails off.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because," Air explains, "the punishment is so severe, and you don't even have someone to teach you."

"Well, you're using magic, and who taught you?"

"Shakra, but he had too, because the scrolls said I was supposed to learn."

"Scrolls?"

Fire changes the subject. "Well, Shakra can't teach you and you can't do magic without a teacher."

"Okay then," I counter, "who taught Shakra?"

Fire opens her mouth to respond, then closes it. "Shut up and fly." I laugh.

"Well, if Shakra can learn without a teacher, then it is possible. So I might try."

Air sighs. "You don't even know the first thing about magic."

"I know stuff." I lie. They look at me expectantly, and I say something random. "I know it flows through everything, even rocks and sand, and I know it's like blood to the entire world. The world has to have it, even if dragons left it behind."

"Well, okay, you know one little thing," Fire says. "Just…don't do anything stupid."

We reach my home and they take away the hot currents. I fall straight to the ground.

"Sorry!" Fire whispers before flying away, southwest instead of southeast, straight to the town my father works in, the town that holds the kings castle.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The Purple Feathers

I awake in the morning when my father brings home breakfast: a wild boar. We all eat before my father goes to town for his kingdom duties; he helps clean the first floor of the castle sometimes, other times he tends to the animals there. He always says the cleaning is just as much of a male's work as female's work, but I know he'd rather be doing something more masculine.

Other than watching my mother taking care of her herb garden, the day is rather dull; I don't mind, thought. It gives me time to think about the legends I heard last night.

My father comes home at evening, like always. I ask for food and he chastises me, reminding me that dragons only need their weight in food once a week. I scowl at him as he and my mom watch the sunset.

That night, I get antsy about magic and whatnot. I follow the cliff side, pacing, trying to coax a breeze and failing. A minute purple flash catches my eye. I try to find it, but it's gone. Daring to make some noise, I pounce down the boulders to where I saw the purple thing. Having no luck finding it, I turn to leave and see the purple flash again, from behind me. I whip around, seeing a black feather poking up from the ground.

I walk to it, seeing that its pure black, but looks like the feather's Shakra had poked in the boulders. I walk past it, but turn when it flashes purple. _Oh, _I think, _it's iridescent! _I walk around it, seeing it turn from black to purple and black again.

I flick the feather with one of my sharp white claws. It twinges back and forth rapidly like a metronome.

Another purple flash catches me eye. Now understanding that black feathers are purple feathers, I look at the big picture and see several feathers scattered around. I walk past them, under thick evergreens and short mesquite trees.

I reach a clear section. The ground is a piece of what once was the top of the plateau; it's long and flat, and more weathered than it should be. Several purple feathers have been shoved into the shale somehow.

Once again, I hear the soft _whuff_ of Shakra's wings, only there are other wings beats too. I look up and see Shakra, Chira, and a green male with spikes everywhere possible flying towards me. Knowing hiding would be childish and look suspicious, I sit and wait for them to spot me. They do, and they begin to land on the clearing.

"Kara." Shakra greets. "Have you moved any of the feathers?" he asks, his head craning high to look around.

"No, my prince." I mutter, forgetting to call him Shakra.

Shakra nods slightly to the green dragon. Mr. Green and Spiky hurries off, checking the feathers. "Well, that over there is Earth," he says, pointing to the green dragon. Chira hisses. "Oh, come on. She already knows everyone else but Solar." Chira hisses louder.

"And now she knows about Solar," her raspy voice hisses.

"Really," Shakra says, trying to convince her something, "telling her the name of two more dragons, names they don't go by except when they are with us, really cannot cause anymore harm." Chira sighs.

"Fine, tell her what you wish," she submits, going to help with the feather counting.

"Yes," Shakra says, "I'm afraid you'll have to excuse her. You are the first outsider to know about us."

"Wouldn't everyone have been an outsider at one point?" I ask, making sure not to say 'my prince.'

He laughs. "I guess you're right."

Earth and Chira walk back over. "All the feathers are in place." Earth accounts for. "I was worried that pesky wind would blow them all away, what with them being in shale and all."

"Yes," Shakra agrees. He turns to me. "Kara, would you do me a big favor?"

"Is it jumping off a cliff?" I ask. He laughs heartily.

"No," he says, still chuckling. "We are doing something, and you, as an outsider, can't see. So why don't you go get some sleep?"

"Alright," I agree. "Have fun with your feathers…or whatever."

I hop and flap along the boulders, practicing some flying moves and getting to the top faster at the same time. Once in my cave, thought, sleep does not come. I lie in the pool of moonlight and spread my wings, viewing them.

On my left wing, three important primaries are almost fully grown, the rest not far behind. A few primaries closer to my side are peeking from under my plumage. I've even got some of the tertail feathers growing. I tuck my wings in and my tertails cover the feathers. Tertails were those feathers by secondary feathers. They can't exactly help flying, but they cover feathers when your wings are tucked in.

I flap and spread my wings, pretending to fly. I imagine that I'm high above the land, watching the clouds float beneath me. After a while, I hear two scaled dragons and one feathered dragon take flight. I watch them soar away, empty clawed, all the feathers they had brought no longer with them.

The prince's owl soars above me, watching the cliff side with wide eyes. I wonder if he will return to the castle or stay all night, hunting the mountain hares that roam over the rocky side of the plateau.

I slip into sleep without realizing it, dreaming of purple feathers and scrolls and Earth's spikes.

I growl in the morning out of instinct when my mother wakes me.

"Sorry," I apologize sleepily.

"Kara, both your father and I have to go to town today," she tells me. I mutter something along the lines of "okay" and they fly off.

I wake around noon for good, stretching and wishing for some rodent to eat. My father should bring something home tonight or tomorrow. I couldn't wait. Imagining boar and rodent and maybe deer, or even some rare ibex, I walk out of the cave and sit in the sun.

It doesn't take long to find that my dark feathers absorb the sun's heat and make the hot sun's rays uncomfortable. I shift my dark blue feathers, watching them flash purple. I rotate my primaries for practice and as they turn from the light, a black color comes about them.

I stretch out in the sun, taking a short nap after I pick through my feathers for a while. When I wake, boredom overcomes me. I sit and turn to the dark section of the forest and walk down the rocks to it, thinking of how nice the shade will be.

I reach the nice place, nearly stepping on a purple feather. Several more are scattered around, and I'm careful to dodge them. I reach the base of a large pine tree and sit down, picking through the needles around me.

Getting hot, I wish for a breeze. I try to use magic to make the wind stir. I try move the air, to convince the air to move, and finally I try to just become the air so I can move it myself.

It takes a moment, then I feel myself whisking through the pine needles high on the trees and down by the bushes on the ground. I feel my dragon self, and whip by.

A sudden breeze makes me come from my trance partially. I continue to be the wind and take it around, having fun tickling through the trees and shivering through the leaves. After a while, I start to get hungrier and realize the magic must take energy. I stop with the magic and enjoy the continuing light wind.

Evening comes and my mother arrives home. After scraping my way up the boulders to her worried voice and assuring her I'm fine and just went on a walk, she calms down. She says my father is going to be busy for quite some time, and won't be back until later. I tell her that's fine.

She tells me my mentor should be back sometime this week from his trip.

"Finally," I mutter. In truth, I am glad for not having classes for a while, although it's starting to get boring.

My mom laughs, and goes inside. I stay up until my father flies into the cave. I welcome him, and he falls asleep quickly. Deciding to stay out later, I sit on the shale outcrop and watch the waning moon glide higher. I watch it until I am tackled by Fire.

"Ha!" she laughs, brushing herself off. "Gotcha." I hiss at her playfully, standing up.

"What brings you here?" I ask. She peers into the cave. "They're asleep." I assure her, assuming she's looking for my parents. She nods.

"Shakra wants to see you in the meadow." She watches my reaction.

"Alright." She nods again, making a thermal for us to ride on. I wish I could make a current, or that she could, but I take what I can get. Her thermal keeps me aloft, and my growing secondary feathers help me get some thrust, along with my primaries. Flapping hard, some more tuffs of plumage fall off, exposing several coverts I hadn't seen. I smile happily; glad to have some more feathers.

The flight to the meadow is tiring without an air current to help push me along. I make it, though, and see a strange sight. The fire is about one story high, and eight podiums are around it. I see Shakra sitting on the southeastern one, then going clockwise sit Chira, Air, Water, an empty podium, an odd dragon whom I presume is Solar, and then next to him is the green dragon. Between the green dragon, Earth, and Shakra is another empty podium that Fire promptly fly too.

I hesitantly land beside Solar, looking over his features. Two average sized slightly curling horns are a pale off-white. His legs are a light red-orange. His shoulders are pure orange, his tertails are a yellow color, and so is his neck and base of his tail. The end of his tail and head merge into a golden color.

"Alright everyone," Shakra addresses us. "This is Kara. She is on the plateau with the scrolls." Murmurs of interest go around. "We are here to discuss what we should do about her. She is almost fledged, has a permanent residence on the plateau, has a mentor, I think…" he turns to me.

"Yeah, one mentor for academic stuff," I say. He continues talking.

"Well, we obviously need her to stay quiet about us and the scrolls. Kara, do you know what scrolls we are looking for?"

"No."

"Holy crow!" Chira shouts in mock excitement. "There _is_ something that hasn't been said to her!"

"As I was saying," Shakra grumbles, "we need to do something with her, show her that we are not something that needs to be brought to the king's attention."

"I already said I wouldn't tell anyone," I remind him, and he nods at me.

"Kara, do you wish to learn some magic stuff?" he asks.

"Kind of."

"Do you?"

"Well, yes, but I'm not sure if I should take the risk."

"Pretend there is no risk."

"Then yes, of course." He looks at me closely. I did fear magic, but only a little. And learning more about it would make me less afraid, and I would be less likely to recoil from it. Plus, if some immortal dragon attacks, it will be a useful talent.

"What reasons?" he asks. I explain myself, saying what ran through my mind a minute ago. "Mhm. Do you know why we do it?"

"I'm sure you have your reasons."

"We do it to keep it alive. Magic needs to be returned to the land, and I'm terribly sorry if the Mikklo Legends made you worry about the Evil Child. Forget about her. She's not attacking now, and the best thing to do is work with the problem at hand: the kingdom and the world have some paralyzing fear of magic that needs to be eradicated."

"Oh." I mutter.

"So, you see the more people who don't fear magic, the better. The more who know it, the better. Thus, we are thinking of letting you be part of the group."

"Oh," I repeat.

"Would you be interested?"

I clear my throat. "I think I would." My voice starts off strong, but gets a little squeaky at the end. Fear pumps through me, but I remind myself this is what I wanted, and I shouldn't be afraid. I push past my fear and sit up straight. "I would like to be," I say, my voice strong all the way through. He nods.

"Alright. Kara, if you are one of us, you could be punished along with us, you know."

"I know," I say boldly. He sighs.

"Glad we got that over with. Fire, take her home, and then come back here. We have more to discuss." Fire nods. She flies over to me and hovers, making a thermal. The fire behind her grows louder, roaring with deafening noise. I flap onto the thermal and power flap upward as we gain height and distance from the group.

Once the meadow is behind us, Fire speaks.

"So, you want to be a groupie for us, huh?"

"Not a groupie. Part of the group. I want to learn magic, and preserving it is a very good idea, what with everyone banning it and all." Fire scowls.

"Don't say you want to preserve magic just because that's our goal."

"I'm not. I'm saying it because the idea of preserving magic is brilliant, and a much better motivation than to protect myself from a century old dragon that may or may not be alive."

"Just think about what you are doing. The prophecies say of a dragon for each element, two leaders, a dragon of light and a dragon of dark. It doesn't mention you, anywhere, and Shakra might come to his senses and kick you out."

"I know. I know I'm just a half fledged dragon who lives somewhere of interest, but I have to try to help."

Just then we reach home. She drops me off, says goodnight, and hurried back to the meadow while I'm left alone. I flick the wind around, but it tires me and soon I'm asleep.


End file.
